Tuesday, March 09, 2010

A longtime reader contacted me the other day to say that he would be traveling in Florida, and would be having dinner with his wife at a restaurant in Naples. He wanted to know what I would drink if I were spending about $100. He said that he would prefer to drink either white or red Burgundy, but he would be open to other suggestions.

Some one at Bleu Provence clearly loves wine - the list is extensive and detailed and contains more than a few wine-geek gems mixed in with the blue chips. Because I am an astonishingly competent procrastinator, I looked through the list carefully and came up with what I think are a few great ways to spend $100 on wine at Bleu Provence.

We played this game together in July, by the way, and it was good fun. I'll tell you what I came up with of course, in the comments, but I'd love to hear you first - what would you buy with $100 at Bleu Provence?

Guess we know where all the Kermit Lynch wine winds up in Florida. The 'no-vineyard-designation' 2007 Raveneau Chablis seems promising. They don't make a villages wine so take I say advantage of the boo-boo.

An alternative for the red is something more southern that you can try, you can get two bottles here :__ Languedoc Roussillon D'Aupilhac Lou Mazet 2003__ Languedoc Roussillon Clos des Fées Sorcières 2005

Since the request was for a Burg - on the red side I would go with either the 2001 Bouchard Jesus (very good value - recent vintages are around $100) or the 2005 de Villaine Mercurey Montots - I really find the '05 lesser appelations killed it in 2005 and are more approachable at this point than their big brothers... Having said that - I would probably also go for the Lapiere Morgons...

On the white side - the Dauvissat La Forest (pick your year) or the Sauzet Chassagne... I personally would probably choose for a white one of the Zind-Humbrechts...

A half bottle of Zind Humbrecht Reisling: Clos Hauserer 2004 $36 or Heimbourg 2003 $38. Follow that up with the Puffeney Poulsard M 2003 for $54. Throw in a couple shots of espresso and you hit $100. Flexible, nerdy, and fun.

Thanks for all of this input - great suggestions. I totally missed the 02 Epire at $38. more people suggested the lapierre wine than any other wine, which makes sense. it's a great wine and a great price. here is what i wrote to the reader in reply to his question:

if i were picking a white burgundy, i would pick the 2007 Dauvissat Chablis 1er Cru La Forest. Red burgundy, i would pick, in order, the 2000 Leroy Bourgogne, the 2007 Chevillon Nuits Saint Georges (should be delicious now, although tremendously overpriced), the 2005 Pierre Morey Monthelie, or one of the de Villaine wines (I cannot remember which right now. I then said "but although there are great burgundy wines on the list, there aren't many great burgundy values on this list. i wouldn't buy burgundy with my $100. i would share a half bottle of the Paul Bara Bouzy Rose ($68) and then get the 2004 Foillard Morgon Cote du Py ($44). Or, just get the 2002 Clos Rougeard ($88).

It didn't feel right somehow to recommend a magnum of Beaujolais to this guy and his wife.

Turns out there were four people at dinner. He ordered the Dauvissat Chablis (they didn't have the 07, so he got the 06), and the 02 Clos Rougeard. They enjoyed both wines, he particularly liked the Clos Rougeard. Perhaps no one had ordered one in a while, because the owner came out to see who ordered it, and gave them a tour of the 25,000 bottle cellar. So lesson learned - ask me for advice and you'll find yourself in a 25,000 bottle cellar.

I'm a huge fan of Rhone wines. For a four person dinner, two bottles of the '05 Coudoulet, Pallieres Gigondas or Graillot Crozes would have been my choice.

I'm with you on the Dauvissat, which was my choice before reading your recommendation, although I might have ordered the '05 La Forest for a few bucks north of $100, with its extra year or two of bottle age. Or the '07 Raveneau.

I couldn't help but ask the sommelier, in this case the owner, Jacques Cariot. Knowing that I would order the Loups de Mer or the Dorade cooked in Banana Leaf prepared by his wife Lysielle, he enthusiastically recommended the 2005 August Clape Saint-Perey. A Marsanne-Roussane blend, he said it offers the complexity and craftmanship of a $150Meursault, but he sells it for $59. I look forward to visiting!

So many good options, and it seems most have been mentioned here that I liked as well:

Pousse D'or and Chevillon both great options if also not exactly steals.

For two bottles start with the Epire or the Briords and then go to a red with one of the De Villain wines, the 2000 Leroy, or perhaps the MOrgon Cote de Py. Sounds like a lot of good ways to wine!

Can't go wrong with Dauvisset either. Conventional logic, I know, is that 2006 Chablis is not a good vintage, and I agree 2007 is preferable, but I have had some very good 2006, so I would give it a try anyway.

Brooklyn and all the others-Great, great wine list!! I love it. Me, I would have done the leroy 2000, and the barral Jadis 01, just both beautiful wines, the the Clos Rougeard white seems extremely tempting (as do all their wines).Thanks,Ben

I know this post is way old, but I had to chime in after stumbling while looking for info on '99 Verset Cornas.

I actually live near here, and it's a nice place with a good list, but the best thing is during off-season on Sundays, they have half price bottles for anything under $150 on the list. Anything over $150 they take $75 off. So as you can imagine we took advantage of this often.